I Still Miss Google Reader But…

Back in the day, I used to keep up with my favorite blogs (all 150+ of them) on Google Reader.

Come to think of it, back in the day I had time to read all 150+ of my favorite blogs. Wow.

Anyway…

I loved opening up my reader every day and catching up with everybody. If I had a busy streak and was unable to read blogs, it was fine because they were all there waiting for me when I returned.

In what can perhaps over-dramatically be described as a crushing blow to me, Google Reader went away for some strange reason last summer and left me flailing. There was much discussion on what the best substitute could possibly be. I tried Feedly but didn’t care for it. We all know that Facebook doesn’t show us everything, and there’s no storage factor there, so that option was out.

Finally I just subscribed to a bunch of blogs via email and relied on Facebook to see the rest. It’s a terrible system. TERRIBLE. I have missed out on so much.

Yesterday I noticed that Jill Smokler (Scary Mommy) was asking her Facebook friends how they keep up with blogs, and it seemed like lots of people are using bloglovin’ these days. I decided to give it a shot and loaded my brand new bloglovin’ feed with blogs, starting with the ones in my blogroll and expanding out from there.

So far, I like it. It’s got some of the features I loved on Google Reader, and it’s got an app for iPhone so I can do some reading from my phone with hardly any effort at all. It seems like a good way to discover new blogs too, because I can see what my bloglovin’ friends are marking “liked”. That seems to be the biggest difference from Google Reader: the social aspect. I like it. (By the way, look over there to the right and you’ll find my bloglovin’ button. Follow me there!)

I don’t know…I still miss Google Reader but maybe Bloglovin will make me forget? Fingers crossed.

Oh Google Reader! How I wish it would come back all revamped and new. Sigh! Feedly is ok but not the same. I have a love/hate relationship with facebook so they are unreliable. I never used Bloglovin much even though I am listed there. Maybe its time to try it again.